Medieval 2 is the newest release from developer Creative Assembly, and is basically a remake of Medieval:Total War. They have added enhanced graphics, new units, new gameplay elements and tons of new features. While all this looks good on paper, does it have what it takes to dethrone its predecessors?

The game starts you off in control of a faction of your choosing in medieval Europe. At the beginning you're only allowed access to a handful, but as you complete the grand campaign and eliminate factions, you can choose to play as those factions the next time you play. Each faction has its own unique drawbacks and advantages, both unit-wise and geographically. You should carefully consider your pick the first time around because if you don't, you'll most likely end up restarting several times before you're happy with your choice.

So, what’s the basic scenario? Well, you've been thrust on the throne of a nation struggling in medieval times, where backstabbing, excommunications, and crusades are the way of life. As king, you have to decide how to manage your settlements, wage war against rival nations, and please the pope. If you get on the pope’s bad side, you may be excommunicated; which is a very bad thing. Inquisitors will start roaming your lands, killing off generals and family members at will. If you're extremely unlucky, they might even kill off your own faction leader. This is one of the new additions to the series and the Senate system in Rome: Total War got the whole ball rolling. This time, the Pope replaces the Senate, and the new spin is that your priests may be promoted to cardinals, and then one of your cardinals may get promoted to be pope himself. There is nothing as warm and cuddly as having a pope which stems from your country, because he'll most likely be more partial to you. He may even end up excommunicating your enemies, in which case they're fair game for you and your slaughtering whim.

This game is all about the family. At the start of the game, your royal family is rather small, but as the game progresses so does your gene pool. Men of your family can be put to be commanders of armies and towns, and the women can be married off to rival generals in an attempt to win their allegiance. This can sometimes backfire if princess in question joins the rival faction and leaves you with nothing. Sometimes after a battle, you may get the option to adopt a leading general into your royal family, which is a nice touch and can seriously help you if you don’t have enough family members to go around.

In between pleasing the pope, marrying away your princesses, pleasing your council of nobles, hiring assassins, and avoiding the plague, you still have to take control of the battles.

When you choose to attack a land based target (an army or a fortification) you have the option to get down and dirty and command the battle with the exact amount of troops you went in with. This is where the game truly shines.